Mechanical horse



H. M. T. PETERS 'MECHANICAL HORSE Filed June 8, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 H. M. T. PETERS MECHANICAL HORSE May 29,- 1928. A v 1,671,162

Filed June 8, 1925 3 sheets-sheet 5 Patented May 29, 1928. i

UNITED/.STATES PATENT OFFICE. j

HANS n. T.- PETERS, on NEW Yonx, N. Y., AssIeNo ro xNY-scnnnnnn. CORPORATION or AMERICA, OF NEW Yon'x, N. Y., a CORPORATION or NEW Yoan* MECHANICAL HORSE.

Application mea :une s, 192s. serial No. 5,549.

l My invention relates to an improvement in a mechanical horse and the novelty coni sists in the adaptation and arrangement of prts as will be more fully hereinafter polnte out. o

It has been definitely determined by the medical profession that horse-back riding is one of the best forms of exercise which man can take, but the expense of maintaining a stable and the inconvenience and difficulty in obtaining time and conditions proper for such riding have made it impossible for most people to enjoy this form of outdoor exerelse.

-- y-devicetakes up a small amount of s ace, can be utilize i t ereis electric power and'isalways ready for usev at any time and regardless of .any weather conditions. Furthermore, it is inexpensive to maintain and does not require any change in costume and can therefore be utilized by the busy man where a horse would be entirely impractical.

Referring to the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of my complete device.' Figure 2 is the same as Figure 1 with certain portions being uncovered and others being shown in sectlon in order to show the interior mechanism. Figure 3 is the same as Fi re 2 but with the operating parts in dilrent positions. Figure 4 represents details of the compression spring.

In the drawings 10 is a\ base member to which is rigidly secured at 11 a standard 12 to which is rigidly secured at 13 a neck por` tion 14 terminating atits upper end 1n a head portion 15. p i

An electric motor 16 is adapted' to be rigidly secured in position on said standard 12 and whichis adapted to be connected in the usual manner to the source of vpower which is not shown herein. A shaft 17 is` driven by said motor 16 and on the opposite end of said shaft 17 from said motor 16 is rigidly mounted asworm gear 18 which rotates with said shaft 17. A sub-frame member 19- is rigidly secured in Vthe usual manner to the standard 12 and in this sub-frame., 19 is mounted a shaft 20 directly over and crosswise of said worm gear 18, said shaft 2O being mounted in the sub-frame 19 with the usual bearin s 21. A cut gear 22 is yri lidly secured to said shaft 2Q ,so aste rotate-i. eren any home where with and mesh with worm gear 18. A pair of circular eccentric plates 23 vare mounted lthe eccentric plates 23 rotate with the shaft over each end of the shaft 20 and keyed 2O the front end of the saddle framemember y 26 travels therewith.

A pair of rocker members 28 `are looselyl mounted over the shaft 20 so as to turn freely thereon and haneashort arms 29. The

short-"arms 2m pair of rockermembers 28 have a pair of connectin rods 30 loosely secured to the lower ends o as to turn freely at 31. The connecting rods 30 are also connected'at their other ends by 7o said arms 29 so a loose connection to a bell crank lever 32 which is. pivoted at 33. Another connect' ing rod 34 is movably connected at its lower end at 35 to said bell crank lever 32 and at its upper end isl movably connected at 36 to a' lever 37 which is ivoted at 38 and has an operating lever and handle 39 rigidly secured thereto. Said operating lever 39 has a compression member 40 of usual construction adapted upon pressure to disengage a tongue member 41 from guideway slots 42 so as to operate said lever.

At the upper ends of the rocker members 28 is a connecting rod 43 movably secured thereto and the opposite end of said connecting rod 43 is connected to the upper ends of a pair of levers 44 at the point where they 'om and which at their lower ends are rigidly secured to a shaft 45 on which vis also vrigidly mounted a pair of wrist plates 46.

A pair of |',shaped guide members 73 are also mounted on the shaft 45 so that they will rotate freely thereon and they have guidewa slots 49A and 53 in the lower portion an 56 in the upper portion. To the upper ends of the wrist plates 46 are loosely connected a palr of link members 47, the

\ ed to slide in guideways 56 and the opposite ends of said links 55 being loosely connected to center pins 57 .of the eccentric plates 23. A pair ofcompression spring members 58 -are loosely connected to the headed pin members 51 at the lowercnds and at the upper ends are connected at 59 to the saddle frame member 26. A pair ol motor speed control members 6() are secured at one end tothe connecting levers 44 at 72 running over pulleys 61 and having spring members 62 at the lower ends. This control mechanism is adapted to make the necessary con- 'tacts in order to increase the speed as the controls arepulled'by the throwing of the connecting levers `44 as shown in Figure 2 and running dowh to low speed as shown in Figure 3. v

The spring compression member 58 has a plunger member 63 and a spiral spring 64, the movement being limited by pins 65.

A rubber tension member 66 isvadapted to loop over the headed pin members 48 and headed pin members 67 rigidly secured on each side of the standard 12. A saddle frame cover member 68 is adapted to be rigidly secured to the saddle frame member 26 and a saddle 69 of usual construction is adapted to be mounted Vover said cover member 68 as shown in Figure 1.

In Figure 1 is also shown a-pair of reins 7() secured in the usual way at 71 to the head member 15.

The operation of my device is as follows:

The rider mounts the saddle 69 in the usual well known manner adjusting the stirrups to the length desired. The rider thus being seated in the regular position for riding will then turn on the source of power, not shown, thereby setting the motor 16 in operation whereupon the s att 17, the worm gear 18 and the cut gear 22, meshing with said worm gear 18 and the shaft 20 will thereby be driven through the connections as described,'whereby the pair of eccentric plates 23 will be rotated in their bearings 24 so lthat the saddle frame 26, which is rigidly secured at 27 to the bearings 24, will thereby be raised and lowered with the ro. tation of said eccentric plates 23.

In the low speed operation of my device, which is shown in Figure 3, the handle 39 is in the lower position as shown in said figure and the connecting rod 34, bell crank lever 32 and connectin rods 30 are in the position Y shown where y rockers 28 are ulled at 31 to the position shown with the base members 29 extending towards the neck hermes 14 of my device. This results lin pushing l connecting rods 43, levers 44 to the position 'course of rotation described by the saddle trame member 26 will be an ellipse the axis` of which will be substantially in a vertical plane. The position oi they levers 44 in Figure 3 also releases the speed controls 60 so that the spring 62 will draw them down as released so as to effect the low speed of the operation of the motor 16. l

As the 'driver desires to accelerate the speed of my device he will compress the comn pression member 40 thereby releasiiig the tongue member 41A from guideway slots 42 so that the handle 39 can be raised whereby the motion will be transferred pushing down connecting rod 34, bell crank lever 32 and connecting rods 30 thereb pushing the rocker members 28 so that t e foot portions 29 are in t-he positions shown in Figure 2. This turning ot' the rocker members 28 pulls the connecting rods 43 and levers 44 to the positions shown in Figure 2 whereby shaft 45 is turned and Wrist plates 46 so that headed pin members 5l and 48 are drawn to the inner ends of slots 53 and 49 whereby the link members .52 are pushed upwardly with the headed pin members 54 all of which motions will tilt the T-shaped guideway member 73 to t-he position shown in Figure 2. This results in changing the bases 51 of compression spring members 58 as well as the other connecting links described so that the motion described by the saddle frame member 26 will be substantially an ellipse having an axis the plane of which is more nearly in the horizontal position. This operation of my device as shown in Figure 2 will cause the levers 44 to draw on the speed control members 6() thereby elfecting the increase of speed simultaneously with the change of motion ot' the saddle frame member 26 as described. The tension members ,66 will, during these operations, draw down on the headed pin members 48 so as to always keep them in proper tension thereby preventing any unnecessary throw or slipplng.

It is thus seen that the motions described by my device approximate the motions attained by a live horse which is bein driven in horse-back riding as the low spee operation gives us a shorter and more nearly vertical throw ot the saddle frame member 26 whereas the high speed gives 'us the longer lll) rider.

,throw which 'is attained by a live horse on lthe road when\being ridden by a horse-back I claim: g.

1. 1n a mechanical horse the combination of a standard supported on a base, motive means mounted on said standard, a=saddle frame member mounted over said standard,

means connecting said motive means withI said saddle frame member and adapted to *oscillate the same and comprising a pair of of said spring compression member.

2. In a mechanical horse the combination of a standard supported on al base, motive means mounted on saidl standard, a saddle frame member mounted over said standard,

`means connecting said motive means with said saddle frame member and adapted to oscillate the same and means for varylngthe scope of oscillation of said saddle frame member, comprising a spring compression member secured to the rear of said saddle frame member and means for varying the position of the lower end of said spring compression member, consisting of a neck and head portion and a lever in said head controlling a series of links and rockers whereby the raising of said lever pushes the base of said spring compressor member to an outer position.

3. In a mechanical horse the combination of a standard supported on a base, motive means mounted onvsaid standard, a saddle frame member mounted over said standard, means connecting said motive means with said saddle frame member and adapted to oscillate the same and means for varying the scope of oscillation of said saddle frame member, comprising a spring compression member secured to the rear of said saddle frame member and means for varying the position of the lower end of said spring compression member, consisting of a neck and head portion and a lever in said head controlling a series of links and rockers Where by the raising of said lever pushes the base of said spring compressor member to an outer position, and means for varying the speed of the motive means controlled by the movement of said lever.

4. In a mechanical horse the combination of a standard supported on a base, motive means mounted on said standard, a saddle frame member mounted over said standard,

`member to an outer position.

means connecting said motiveJ means 'with' said saddle frame memberand adapted to A oscillate the same and comprising a pair of circular eccentric plates keyed to a `cross shaft driven through intermeshing gears by a driving shaft from said motive means, circular bearings clamped over v'said circular eccentric plates and rigidly secured to said saddle member near the frontend of same, and means -for varying the scope of oscillation of said saddle member Acomprising a spring compression member secured to -the rear of said saddle frame member and means for varying the position of the lower end of said spring compression member consist-- ing of a neck and head portion Iand a lever in said head controlling a series of links and rockers whereby l"che raising of said lever pushes the base of said spring compressor 5. In a mechanical horse the` combination of a standard supported on a base, motive means mounted on said standard, a saddle frame member mounted over said standard, means connecting said motive means with said saddle frame member and adaptedl to osci-llate the same and comprising a pair of circular eccentric plates keyed to a cross shaft driven through intermeshing gears by `a driving shaft from said motive means,

circular bearings clamped over said circular eccentric plates and rlgidly Secured to said saddle member near the front end of same,

and means for varying the scope of oscil;

lation of said saddle member Vv'comprising a spring compression member secured to the rear of said saddle frame member and means for varying the position of the lower end ofy said spring compression member consisting -of a neck and head portion and a lever in weY member to an outer position and means for I varying the speed of the motive means controlled by the movement of said head lever.

6. In a mechanical horse the combination of a standard supported on a base, motive means mounted on said standard, a saddle frame member mounted over said standard, means connecting said motive means .with said saddle frame member and adapted tb oscillate the same, means for varym the scope and direction of oscillation' o said saddle frame member comprising a pair of eccentric plates having bearings attached to said saddle frame member near the forward end of the same and a air of spring compression members attac ed yto said saddle frame member near the rear end of the same and means for moving thebase pivots'of said means mounted on said standard, a saddle frame member mounted over said standard,

oscillate the same, means forf'varylng the scope and direction of oscillation of said saddle frame member comprising a pair of eccentricl pla-tes having bearings attached to said saddle frame member near the forward end of the same and a pair of spring-compression members attached to Said saddle frame member near the rear end of the same and means for moving the `base pivots of said spring compression members and mens for varying the speed of such oscillation simultaneously with the variation of the scope and direction of the same.

8.` In a mechanical horse the combination ,of va standard supported on a base, motive means mounted on said standard,l a saddle frame member mounted over sald standard,

said saddle frame member and adapted to oscillate the same, 'means for yvarying the means connecting said motive means with scope and direction of oscillation'- of said saddle frame member comprising a pair of eccentric plates having bearings attached to said saddle frame member near the :forward i said spring compression members, consist-` ing of a tilting T-shaped guide member,

links connected together from said eccentrics to said compression spring bases,a series of 35 connecting rods and/levers operated from the head of said horse controlling the changing l of osition of said links and pivots.

n testimony whereof I ailix my signature.

f HANS `M. T.v PETERS. 

